Fire On The Suns News Items

From: "Greg Ellis" <gnellis@ifn.net>

Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Saurian News Transmission

.     ____       On the 5th day of the third week, Hybrid
.   _/   O\__    forcess dared to attack the Saurian home.
.  _\       `\   In the enssuing battle eight brave pilotss
. _\    <XXXXX  /
._\    \_____/  \
.\     //        gave their livess to protect the Queen.
                 The invaderss lost 77% percent of their
                 fleet and ssuffered an esstimated 11,824
                 cassualtiess.  We will hunt down thesse
                 creaturess and grind them into dusst.

Thiss iss the firsst time that a UO fleet
                 hass ssurvived contact with the Saurian
                 Alliance.  They sshall not live to enjoy
                 that minor victory.

[Insert footage of tach-laser mines ripping
                 into cloaked Hybrids, the Saurian Old Navy
                 uncloaking and going toe-to-toe with the
                 Hybrids.  Not a single SA ship or base is
                 damaged (with the exception of a few fighter
                 and ACVs.)]

The Terran Bard has a way with words.  "What
                 need we fear who knows it, when none can
                 call our power to account?"

END TRANSMISSION

-----

DSN Morning Edition
20th March, 2271
08:00 hours GST

Q�TEZ HYBRIDS PLUCKED BY HEE�DRA
(by local Deep Space Network affiliates)

Hot on the heels of yesterday�s announcement of a victory against
Unspeakable One "Q�Tez Hybrids" by the Saurian Alliance, the Hee�Dra
today confirmed that their forces had indeed engaged this enemy deep
within their own space.
  The attack occurred at a major Hee�Dra colony in sector 411x415.
The Hybrid fleet reportedly included a single battlecruiser, a light
carrier, three heavy cruisers, 12 light cruisers, two strike
cruisers, two "special weapon cruisers" mounting massive spinal
cannon, four frigates, six destroyer escorts, and twenty Finch-type
fighters.
  Fortunately, the Unspeakable made the mistake of attacking a system
which was guarded by the entirety of the Hee�Dra 1st Stormfleet,
including eleven capital ships, over 140 fighters, and a host of
medium combatants. The Hee�Dra forces were surprised by the Q�Tez
fleet decloaking around them, and lost a frigate and what Hee�Dra
reports called a "respectable" number of fighters in the opening
seconds.
  After this initial swipe, Hee�Dra forces threw themselves into the
fight with their typical ruthless pragmatism. The combined fire of a
Hybrid heavy cruiser and escort atomized the destroyer Dawntreader,
while one of their light cruisers overwhelmed the frigate Windsword.
Other Hybrid CLs landed heavy hits on the PBB Flickersong and the
modernized battlecruiser Sharddancer, but both managed to absorb
these blows with their shielding. One of the two Hybrid strike
cruisers darted through the melee to raze the light cruiser Aurora
with a single broadside.
  Simultaneously, the overwhelming Hee�Dra forces began to take a
heavy toll on the attackers. The other Hybrid strike cruiser was
holed by a withering salvo from the Flickersong, while Hee�Dra
nanoswarm torpedo systems accounted for no fewer than four light
cruisers. Heavy fighter attacks crippled the Hybrid battlecruiser,
leaving her unable to retreat. Two heavy cruisers, three frigates,
three escorts, and all but two of the Hybrid fighters also fell to
the fire of massed Hee�Dra combat units.
  In an amazing display of targeting skill, the crew of one of the
Hybrid special weapon cruisers unleashed the full, furious firepower
of their massive spinal cannon on one of the Hee�Dra�s now-empty
nanoswarm launchers. The Hull-1 launcher was devastated by 40 points
of directed energy damage. The Hee�Dra captains reportedly laughed.
  The ragged Hybrid formation was unable to do any further
significant damage to the Hee�Dra fleet. The PBB Flickersong savaged
another Hybrid CL, and the combined fire of the heavy cruiser
Somnium and the fighter wings brought down the enemy battlecruiser.
The efforts of the fleet as a whole contributed to the destruction
of the remaining heavy cruiser, seven light cruisers, a special
weapon cruiser, the last frigate, three escorts, and the last two
fighters.
  After losing 92% of their attack force, the Hybrids pulled back
and retreated under cloak. Only two damaged light cruisers and the
carrier (which had remained clear of the melee) survived. A crippled
light cruiser and the other special weapon cruiser scuttled.
  The Hee�Dra commander, "The Curve Fate Forms out of Mist" noted
that the three retreating Hybrid ships were the first Unspeakable
forces to survive an encounter with a Hee�Dra fleet. She further
vowed that, "The Stormriders will find these unfortunates wherever
their masters send them. We will euthanise them. We will free their
captive souls." The Saurian Alliance issued a similar statement,
minus the metaphysics, following yesterday�s battle in their space.
  At a press conference this morning, Admiral Miranda Bennet of
United Earth Fleet Command reported that between the two battles in
Saurian and Hee�Dra space, the Q�Tez Hybrids took over 25,000
casualties. "It appears the Unspeakable Ones have run out of
Pyronians, and have started throwing enslaved Q�Tez into the path
of the alliance advance, trying to slow us down," she said. "In
these two battles, at least, they were checked with heavy losses.
The gambit appears to have failed. But we are still very concerned
about where the Unspeakable Ones� own ships have disappeared to."

DSN/ATNA Newswire
(Deep Space Network / Associated Tachytele News Agencies)